200-to-1 bet on Texas Tech could pay $300,000; Patriots top NFL in season win total openers

A $1,500 bet placed last November at 200-to-1 odds could be worth $300,000 if Texas Tech wins the NCAA Tournament.

Now, the bettor is looking to potentially hedge his bet and cash out through PropSwap, a secondary marketplace that allows sports bettors to buy and sell their futures tickets. The ticket has been posted with a price of $65,000, which would be the largest cashout in the company’s history (since 2015).

The SuperBook has set up its futures book well and isn’t too concerned. “Auburn is our only liability, and a small one at that,” SuperBook vice president of risk Jeff Sherman told ESPN.

Cleveland’s win total opened at nine (over -120, under EVEN), after the Browns went 7-8-1 last year — and 1-31 the previous two seasons. The Browns’ over/under closed at six wins last season.

The New England Patriots (11-5 last season) have the highest win total at 11, putting them atop the win-total board before the start of the season for the fourth consecutive year and the 10th time since 2004. The Patriots are an NFL-best 13-3-1 to the over since 2002.

The Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs have the next-highest over/under at 10.5.

The reasons vary by state, from slower-than-expected rollouts and the unavailability in some places of mobile betting, to an all-too-predictable Super Bowl, in which the Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3, covering the 2½-point spread.

In West Virginia, a contract dispute led to a shutdown at two sportsbooks and the state’s only betting app at the beginning of the NCAA basketball tournament, eliminating crucial betting days. The state brought in $862,000 in taxes on sportsbooks from September through the first days of March. With just four months left in its fiscal year, that is well short of the annual projection of $5.5 million.

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